California’s employee COVID vaccine mandate bill is shelved

One of the most far-reaching vaccine bills introduced in the California Legislature this year will not move forward as planned, after the proposal to require all workers to be inoculated against COVID-19 was shelved on the eve of its first hearing.

Citing improved pandemic conditions and opposition from public safety unions, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) said she would hold Assembly Bill 1993, which would have required employees and independent contractors, in both the public and private sectors, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment unless they have an exemption based on a medical condition, disability or religious beliefs.

The move comes as a group of truck drivers protesting COVID-19 mandates around Washington, D.C., has said it plans to head to California to oppose vaccine legislation in the Golden State. AB 1993 had been among the bills listed on the People’s Convoy website that the group planned to protest in California.

AB 1993 was scheduled to be heard Wednesday in the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment.

“We introduced AB 1993 because of the high volume of workers, employers and public health experts who expressed the need for vaccine requirements yet felt unable to make these changes on their own,” Wicks said in a statement. “We are now in a new and welcome chapter in this pandemic, with the virus receding for the moment. This provides for us the opportunity to work more collaboratively with labor and employers to address concerns raised by the bill.”

In an interview Tuesday, Wicks said the need for the bill could change if COVID-19 rates increase again.

“The door is open should condition warrant,” Wicks said, adding that the decision to pull the bill had nothing to do with the trucker convoy or any planned protests.

“I don’t think my colleagues will be swayed by a trucker gang or whatever they are,” Wicks said. “I think my colleagues would much rather listen to public health officials.”

Wicks said she was disappointed by opposition from public safety unions — including the California Assn. of Highway Patrolmen, California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. and California Professional Firefighters — noting that “it’s my hope that they will ultimately come to the table to make sure all of their workers are vaccinated, and that every job sector in California has the tools necessary to keep their workers safe from COVID-19.”

State workers currently are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing. Vaccination rates among some public safety departments, including the California Highway Patrol and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, have remained much lower than those of the general public, according to data from the state human resources department.

In Los Angeles, the city has fended off legal challenges from groups of firefighters and police employees seeking to halt local vaccine requirements.

The California Professional Firefighters union said a blanket vaccine mandate for all employers would undermine “the strength and importance of local bargaining and labor negotiations.”

“We have worked…